


Good Action For The Day

by AnabielVriskaMars



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-10
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-25 16:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4967872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnabielVriskaMars/pseuds/AnabielVriskaMars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frankly, saving Pacifica from marrying a bunch of gnomes wasn't in your plans for the day, but you suppose its something to keep you busy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Action For The Day

**Author's Note:**

> sweet, simple and innocent.
> 
> i like this couple hohoho

Honestly, Dipper was happy to have a single day to himself.

He loved the mysteries that surrounded Gravity Falls, and spending time with Mabel and Grunkle Stan, and now Ford, and Soos and Wendy and all... It was just refreshing to have a single day in which there was nothing  _actively_ trying to eat his brain.

It was a family day, so the Shack was closed. Wendy and Soos were with their families. Grunkle Stan was out of the city, probably working on that pug-trafficking business Dipper  _absolutely_ knew  _nothing_ about whatsoever, and Mabel was hanging out with Grenda and Candy.

Yeah... It was nice to have a single day for himself.

So nice.

...

 _So boring_.

He'd read the journal back to back. All three of them, in fact, and now that he had uncle Ford there was a lot more to learn, and his uncle was more than happy to teach him, usually, but today... Well, he hadn't seen him in the entire day.

So, exactly what was he supposed to do? He'd read all his books. There was a Ducktective marathon on the TV, but he'd already seen every single episode (once you know how the crime is solved it kind of loses its appeal) and well, Dipper was not exactly  _famous_ for his ability to make friends.

With nothing to do, he was just hanging upside down in the couch, his hat falling neatly on the rug under his head. He was staring at the wall and trying to come up with anything to do, or think about.

Wasn't it weird not to know what to think about?

So when the doorbell rang and he almost fell face first into the rug, he silently thanked anything that watched over this weird town for the distraction.

Dipper ran to the door and threw it open, eager for the newcom--

Oh, God, no.

Pacifica Northwest stood there, a scarf tied around her head and wearing large, bug-eye shades, as if she were ashamed to be standing in Pines property.

 _Is this a joke?_ he silently asked no one in particular.

"Are you lost?" Okay, Dip, tone it down. No need to be rude.

Pacifica didn't lower her shades or made any attempt at a polite greeting. Instead she waltzed into the shack without a word, looking vaguely uncomfortable at anything around her. 

 _Let yourself in, why don't you?_ Dipper asked dryly in his head. 

He really should stop talking to himself.

"I'm gonna make this short." Pacifica said, whipping around and lowering her shades just a fraction. She took one, two, three seconds to continue talking.

"I need your help." Her voice was clipped and low, as if she hated herself for having to say it. As if there was nothing more embarrassing in the world for her. 

As if the last thing she ever wanted to do in the entire world was come up to him to ask for help.

Dipper just stared. "What?"

Pacifica pressed her lips together in annoyance. No, wait. That wasn't annoyance. It was... shame?

"I need your help," she repeated, and then swallowed. "Please."

Of all the things that had ever happened in Gravity Falls-- of all the things he'd seen, monsters he'd fought, gnomes he ran from, heck, even that time he was a character from D&D&D-- this was the most flabbergasting, unbelievable and totally surreal thing he had ever been in presence of.

Pacifica Northwest had asked him for help. She had said  _please_.

It took everything in him not to gloat.

"What for?" he asked, quickly dispelling his confusion. "And more importantly,  _why_ should I help you? You've been nothing but terrible to my sister ever since you met."

She looked away from him, at the floor, as if the rug held something super interesting that she just  _couldn't_ look away from. Two seconds passed when she shook her head and headed towards the door again, bypassing Dipper one more time. "You know what? Nevermind. This was a stupid idea."

Damn straight it was a stupid idea. Why on earth should he help her? Just because he helped her  _one time_ back at her family's mansion didn't mean he  _had_ to help her now. Especially since she hadn't bothered acknowledging him  _or_ Mabel ever since that day.

Not that it stung a little or anything. It was just rude, okay?

"Wait, Pacifica." He heard himself say, and wanted to punch his own face. He was horrified at the next words to come out of his mouth. "What do you need?"

A strand of blonde hair had come undone from under her scarf, and she tucked it back in. The motion had a strange air to it, as if she were doing it out of nervousness.

"I..." She took a deep breath. "I lost something really important to me."

He waited.

"More like something was taken from me. And I think it was something strange." For the first time he met her eyes, her hands folding and unfolding her shades nervously. "This sounds like its right up your alley... Can you help me?"

In the months he'd known her, he had never heard her sound so humble. He supposed this little surprise was what caught him off guard long enough for him to nod dumbly.

She blinked a couple of times, as if she were as surprised as he was that he agreed. There was a tiny, almost imperceptible smile on her face.

Her back straightened up and she regained her arrogant composure.

"Good. Let's go now. I have things to do."

Dipper took a deep breath. This had better count as the good action for the day.

* * *

He wondered what he had done in his entire life that led him to this point.

Was it that time when he saved a turtle from oncoming traffic? Or the time he replaced Grunkle Stan's clips with spiders at Mabel's request?

He couldn't even tell  _how_ to feel about the whole situation.

The point was that he was standing in Pacifica's room.

It was... over the top. To say the least.

It was huge, covered from wall to wall in a thick wool carpet she made him take his shoes off to walk over, and there was a huge closet with God-knows how many clothes. She had probably  _three_ vanities ( _that wasn't surprising_ he thought to himself) and in the middle of the room there was a huge, four posted bed with purple covers and a single, worn-out looking stuffed unicorn.

Pacifica noticed that he was staring at her bed, and quickly yanked the unicorn, hiding it behind her with a furious blush.

"That's none of your business, Dork." She snapped. He might have taken offense at her tone and left, had the crack of an open window not caught his eye.

"Did you leave this open?" He asked, walking toward the window. The room was toasty, save for the mild breeze coming from that window.

"What? No," she said, forgetting about the unicorn and walking towards the same open window. "I.. didn't even know you could open these."

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "They're  _windows_ ,"

Pacifica shrugged. "They've always just been part of the decoration. My parents just didn't think it was fit to open them and let in the town air." She sniffed the air tentatively. "They said it smells like poverty."

Unconsciously, Dipper sniffed the air a little too, but he couldn't place what 'poverty' smelled like. The only scent around him was a sweet lavander that always clung to Pacifica, which seemed much more pronounced in her room. It was a nice smell, he thought.

When he caught his thought, Dipper nearly smacked himself right across the face.

 _Dude, no_. 

"Wait, what's this?" Pacifica's voice cut through his thoughts. Dipper looked over her shoulder at the carpet, to the tiny footprints of mud.

Yeah, okay, he knew what was up.

"Well, that tells us  _who_ took it." He sighed. Pacifica sat up.

"What? Who?"

"The gnomes, obviously."

Pacifica had stared at him blankly for a whole minute, probably considering calling for help, when he realized that she was pretty much out of the loop about this town. Dipper rubbed his eyes.

"Do you remember how there were, like, ghosts in your party a few weeks ago?" Pacifica nodded. "Well, those aren't the weirdest thing in this town. There are zombies, gnomes, one time I actually pulled a guy out of a videogame to beat someone up for me." He counted with his fingers. "This other time there were these old people ghosts in a convenience store who hated teenagers and had everybody trapped there until I--" He shut his mouth. He would  _not_ relive that.

Pacifica still stared for a moment, and he could see her brain trying to wrap itself around the idea.

"That's ridiculous." Obviously.

He rolled his eyes. "Listen, do you want your thing or not?"

She huffed. "Fine."

He rolled his eyes.

Mabel had better be proud of him.

* * *

"So where are we going?" Pacifica asked while they were walking through the woods. Dipper worked hard to look as confident as he wished to be about the direction they were taking.

"We're looking for the gnomes' nest."

"And  _why_ do you have a leaf-blower?"

"Its the gnomes' only weakness."

"Do you even hear yourself when you talk?"

"I try not to." He answered dryly. To his utter bafflement, Pacifica let out a small, almost imperceptible, smile.

Oh, okay.

"So, why'd you ask me for help?" Dipper ventured. Pacifica pretended to look at her surroundings.

"Cause you're good at this kind of thing, right?"

"You didn't know it was supernatural until we went to your room," he said, and wow,  _now_ he realized how bad that sounded.

Stupid 12 year old brain.

Pacifica stuttered for a second before deciding not to answer.

"Why didn't you ask your minions?" Dipper pressed.

"They're not my minions." She snapped. "They're my friends."

Dipper rolled his eyes. "They do  _everything_ you say and do. They're  _minions_." _  
_

"Just because they're insecure doesn't make them bad people, Dipper." This was the first time she'd used his name. Probably ever. "You just saw them a couple of times. You have no idea how they really are."

That, effectively, shut him up.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. Pacifica's shoulders relaxed.

"Its alright... I know how they come off. But once you get to know them they're pretty sweet."

Her voice was gentle, and Dipper dared steal a glance sideways at her.

"I'm sorry," he found himself saying. "I guess I don't really have a place saying that kind of thing... It's not like  _I_ have many friends."

Pacifica shrugged. "You're pretty nice." This pleased him more than he'd like to admit. "Lame, but nice."

In spite of the afterthought-insult, Dipper smiled a little at her, and she smiled right back. It was only now that he noticed that pretty shade of blue eyeshadow she wore.

Actually, it was now that he noticed she was... well...  _pretty_.

_Nope, nope nooooope._

_"_ So," he asked, trying to stomp all over his earlier thought, "what did they even take from you?"

This time, she blushed. "Nothing." She said curtly.

Dipper raised an eyebrow. "If it wasn't anything important, you wouldn't have come to me. Its not like you actually  _like_ me."

He swear he could hear his heart skip a beat when he realized what he said. "No,  _no_ , I didn't mean like me as in  _like_ me, I just meant, uh, that like,  _uh_ , you don't find my companionship particularly interesting, cause you and I are different! Not that different's  _bad_ or anything, I just mean that its not like we're  _friends_ , or anything, but its not like we _couldn't_ be friends if you, you know, if you wanted to."

Oh god, he was rambling.

Last time he was rambling like this, it was in front of Wendy.

 _Oh god_.

He was spared an answer to this horrible,  _horrible_ mishap by being thrust upside down and raised about four feet from the ground, and he had never been so thankful for anything in his life, even when the leaf blower slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground.

"Dipper!" Pacifica yelled. 

This was still better than having to deal with his rant. Even when from out of the bushes came out Jeff, looking high and mighty as any creature 10" tall had a right to be.

"Well, well,  _well_ , " Jeff said. His eyes were trained on Dipper. "Look what the cat dragged in.  _Dipper Pines_."

Pacifica's head shot upwards, staring at Dipper in bewilderment. "You  _know_ this guy?"

"Uh, yeah" he said, twirling a little from his trapped ankle. "This is Jeff. He tried marrying my sister once."

"We could've had Mabel as our _Queen!"_ he screeched. "If you hadn't had yer nose in our business she would have married all of us!"

Pacifica just looked upwards at Dipper, as if wondering what Jeff's problem was.

"He's always like this," Dipper said calmly. And then, to Jeff, "put me down! You can't keep me up here!"

"Oh, but I can!" Jeff said, and several gnomes emerged from the bushes. To Dipper's horror, they were surrounding Pacifica. "And if Mabel won't marry us, then  _she_ will!" 

"What?  _No_." She snapped.

Jeff looked at her, a little disappointed. "Aw, come on, pleeeeaaase?" 

She looked upwards, at Dipper, who still hung uselessly from the trees. He could see her decision before she even opened her mouth.

"Pacifica  _don't!"_

She turned to meet Jeff again. "Alright  _fine_ , but only because I've always wanted to be a queen." She said, and flipped her hair.

From way up in the branches, Dipper tried to pretend that this didn't make him angrier than anything.

Jeff smiled and turned to his people. "We have a queen!" He called, and they cheered. 

"Hey Jeff?" Pacifica called.

"Yes, my sweet pea?" he asked, turning around to face the barrel of Pacifica's leaf-blower.

"I'm already a queen."

And then it was the most wonderful thing Dipper had seen.

He could only see it at moments, when he was facing in the right direction, and he was upside down so his head hurt a lot, but mostly he could see the mane of yellow hair and the purple jacket just... dancing  _everywhere_.

Or well, it was not really a dance, obviously. Pacifica was taking all the gnomes down, one by one, blowing them away in different directions. She had the leaf-blower at the highest setting, and simply focused on clearing the way. From his vantage point, Dipper could see one --Schmebulock-- walking towards the tree happily, and much to his surprise, he was untying the rope that held Dipper up.

Which, obviously, meant that Dipper fell face first to the ground, just a few feet behind Pacifica, who was now blowing away the last of the gnomes. She spun around and saw Schmebulock, ready to blow him away too, but Dipper got in the way.

"No! Wait! He helped!" Dipper said, getting on his feet, and  _ouch_ , did his back hurt. "He cut me down."

They both looked down at Schmebulock. 

"Why did you help me?" Dipper asked, but Schmebulock faced (with both eyes staring in different directions) at Pacifica. Dipper saw a little bit of color rise on Schmebulock's cheeks as he reached behind him and pulled out a flower from his pocket and presented it to her.

"Schmebulock." He said. Pacifica stared at him, dumbstruck.

"What?"

"That's all he can say," Dipper informed her. "But I think he admires you."

To his surprise, Pacifica took the flower. "Uh, thank you," she said awkwardly.

And for some reason Dipper was reminded again of how pretty she was.

"Wait, Schmebulock," Dipper called again at the gnome, who was just taking his leave. He turned. "She lost something and I think someone in your family took it... do you know anything about it?"

Frankly, Dipper did not expect to get an answer, but he might as well ask. 

Schmebulock took off his hat, and above his head was a shiny, pebble covered hair-clip in the shape of a unicorn.

"My hairpin!" Pacifica exclaimed and retrieved it. Dipper saw her stare at the pin as if it were a treasure. Without another word, Schmebulock ran away after his brothers.

Once they were alone, Dipper turned to Pacifica.

"Wait, all this was for a  _hairpin?"_

She shuffled a little before gathering her courage and staring at him, unblinkling.

"Yes."

"I thought it was something  _important_ , Pacifica! You mean to tell me you almost married a bunch of gnomes and that I spent all day walking around the forrest for just a  _hairpin?"_

Her brows stitched together in anger in a way he'd never seen before. In fact, he'd never seen her anything other than mildly annoyed.

"It's not  _just_ a hairpin, you jerk." She snapped. "But if it bothers you so much you can just go home. Whatever. I'll walk by myself."

He huffed and thought about walking away from her, and actually leaving her alone in the forrest. Except, you know, for the fact that she was trying to get back home in the exact opposite direction to where she  _had_ to go and...

He couldn't abandon her on a clear conscience.

"Its this way." He gritted through his teeth. Other than changing her course, Pacifica gave no sign that she'd heard him.

* * *

It was a good five minutes by the time Dipper had reconsidered his attitude.

"What's so special about it?" He asked gently, watching her hold the pin close to her. "Is it because its a unicorn? Is that it? Cause you had an old unicorn in your bed, too."

She stayed silent for a few seconds, and he thought she'd ignore the question, but her voice was soft when she finally answered.

"It was a present," she said, her voice void of all the arrogance and confidence that usually tainted it. He waited for her to continue. "When I was little I had a nanny. Her name was Isabella." She looked at the pin in her hand. "She was the nicest person I'd met in my life. One time, when I was 4 there was a huge thunderstorm, but when I went to my parents' bed, they told me that a Northwest keeps their composure, and that even nature wasn't a match for us.

"But you know, the wind was hard, and there were branches scraping my window and thunder rumbling everywhere... And I was hiding under the covers. Until I heard the door to my room open and I almost screamed.

"But when I peeked from under the covers, it was the new nanny, asking me if I was alright, with a glass of chocolate milk in her hand. She told me that, back home, she had a daughter who was scared of thunder, so she'd always give her some hot chocolate to calm her down, so she'd figured maybe I was scared too."

She had never been this vulnerable in front of him before. He wanted to encourage her to talk, but didn't know what to say. He chose instead a sympathetic silence, and to let her continue talking.

"From that day I was really close with Isabella. At some point I just sort of started liking unicorns for like, a month, so one time, after she came from vacation she brought me that stuffed animal you saw in my bed. I never did tell her that I was over unicorns."

"What.. happened?" Dipper prompted, a little awkward. 

"My mom fired her." Pacifica said simply. "She thought Isabella had stolen her necklace. Turns out my mom was wearing it the entire time, but never bothered bringing Isabella back."

She looked at the hairpin. "Before Isabella left she gave me this hairpin to remember her by... and... well, its important, alright?"

"I'm sorry." Dipper blurted. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Pacifica shrugged. "I know its dumb. That's why I didn't tell my other friends."

For a second Dipper faltered. "Other?" _  
_

Pacifica didn't smile, but her face was a bit contorted, as if she wanted to actively seem disinterested. "Yeah, well, I suppose everybody has to have  _one_ dork friend. And its definitely a step up for you. Being my friend."

His palms were sweating, and there was a warm feeling in his chest. "So, we're friends?" He couldn't stop a little smile.

"If you tell anyone I will deny it and pay someone to make you disappear." She said, but her voice was light. She didn't mean it. Probably.

He'd keep it to himself anyways.

"I think Schmebulock had a crush on you and that's why he took the pin." He blurted out, mostly because he didn't know what to say at this point.

 _Damn_ , he was terrible at talking to girls.

"Yeah, well, if he tries that again, I'll have security break his fingers."

He didn't want to know if she was kidding.

Long before he wanted, they were at her doorstep. The sun was setting. He didn't want the day to end.

His hands were sweating when they reached her door. He scratched the back of his neck nervously.

"Well, it was a lot of fun, spending time with you." He said, dreading that she'd start laughing at him, or insulting him, or telling him that it was all a ruse or a joke.

Instead, Pacifica smiled that tiny, almost inexistent smile that made his heart skip a beat. "Yeah, it was definitely an interesting day."

His palms were sweating. He had to practically rip his feet from the ground to turn around.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around."

"Hey, Dipper?" She called, and he turned around.

Unexpectedly, he felt a pair of lips grazing his cheek softly. If all his nerves hadn't been in overdrive, he might not even had felt it. 

"Thank you," she whispered, and turned around. The smell of lavander hit him straight in the face. Just like that, it became his new favorite smell.

Ridiculous as he knew he looked, he let his fingers brush that spot she'd kissed. "Y-yeah, no problem."

He knew he was blushing, that his palms were sweating, and that he was stuttering, but she didn't seem to mind.

"I'll see you around." She waved, but they both stayed a few seconds more before she actually stepped into the house and closed the door.

He stood there a couple of minutes, hands on his pockets, staring at the door before turning around and walking away. Had he turned one last time, he would've seen Pacifica watching  him go from the window in her bedroom.

* * *

"DIPPER!" Mabel's voice was loud and cheerful, and so incredibly different to the soft, serious voice he'd spent the day with. "Where have you been, bro-bro?"

He shrugged. "Around."

"Oooh," Mabel and her friends chanted. "Mysterious."

"I'm gonna be upstairs in my room. Call me for dinner?"

The girls had settled back into the couch and continued watching their boyband concert. "Sure thing!"

When he came down a few hours later, Grunkle Ford and Grunkle Stan were already sitting at the table, glaring at each other, and Mabel was yapping happily about her day. Waddles was on the floor, eating. 

"So, what did you do today, Dipper?" Grunkle Ford's voice cut through the silence.

The entire day played in his head, ending with that little kiss she had planted in his cheek. He smiled a little.

"I just went exploring."

He'd keep this little secret to himself.

He smiled and integrated himself with the family's conversation, thinking every few minutes about that little unicorn hairpin and how much it could mean to someone.

 

 

 


End file.
